Political Report April 2012

The April issue of AEI’s Political Report covers polls on the presidential contest, environmental and energy issues, and world affairs.

* New polls show that Obama is doing well in swing states. In the latest Gallup survey of key swing states, Obama has a 9-point advantage.

* Americans support prioritizing energy development (47 percent) over protecting the environment (44 percent). This is a change from previous years, when more people prioritized the environment.

* Polls show strong support for building the Keystone pipeline. In March 2012, 57 percent told Gallup the U.S. government should approve the building of the pipeline, while 29 percent thought the government shouldn’t.

* Americans like an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy development, including continuing to develop nuclear energy. Most prefer that the U.S. emphasize conservation over production to solve the nation’s energy problems.

* Attitudes toward global warming have changed little in recent years, remaining highly polarized. The proportion saying the seriousness of global warming is exaggerated was 42 percent in a March 2012 Gallup poll.

* Surveys of young people’s attitudes towards the environment show, on the surface, a reduced commitment to the environment. But they could also show that young people are more satisfied than earlier generations with progress on the environment.

* Americans have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the position of the United States in the world today. Sixty-four percent in Gallup’s March 2012 poll are dissatisfied. Like Japan in the late 1980s and early ’90s, China is now seen as the economic powerhouse.